Events & News
Wellness in Epilepsy Program: Book Club for Northeast Regional Epilepsy Group and Mid-Atlantic Epilepsy and Sleep Center Patients
When: February 24
Time: 12 noon
As part of our Wellness Program, NEREG and MAESC will be launching an on-line epilepsy and seizure-themed Book Club this fall! The plan is to read a book every three months, then “meet” online to talk about it: your impressions, opinions, critiques. Books will be selected based on their relevance to epilepsy, such as books that have a fictional or non-fictional character with epilepsy. The group will vote on the upcoming books to read. Our first book is The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down by Anne Fadiman got us off to a great start. Our newest book that will be discussed in February, 2023 is called "Dings" and is written by Dr. Lance Fogan.
DINGS tells of a mother's struggle to support her son in the midst of a mysterious condition. Conner's school believes that he is not ready for promotion into the third grade. His teacher recommends that he repeat the second grade. Conner's dad is on a combat tour in 2006-7 Iraq; the adults in the boy's life assume that stress and anxiety about his father serving in a combat theater have interfered with his school achievement. Meanwhile, the mom is forced to deal with her son's problem alone.
One night, Conner gets a high fever and he has a convulsion. At the local E.R., he has a brain CT scan and he gets a spinal tap. The doctor suggests to the parents that epilepsy is a possible cause of the convulsion.
All of their lives change when they meet the neurologist. When epilepsy is diagnosed, Conner's mother is devastated. She questions if her child can be considered normal now-could he ever really lead a normal life?
The reader will accompany this family as they travel their fascinating joint clinical and emotional journey to help their son. Sixty million people worldwide, including three million Americans, are afflicted with epilepsy.
Please email lmyers@epilepsygroup.com if you are interested in participating.